Catalan chief to face trial for displaying secession symbols

MADRID (AP) — A judge in Spain says the regional president of Catalonia will face trial for allegedly disobeying the country’s electoral board by not removing pro-secession symbols from public buildings during an election campaign.

Catalan chief Quim Torra could be declared unfit to hold public office for a period of time if found guilty.

Prosecutors are charging Torra with allegedly failing to comply with orders from the country’s electoral board to remove yellow ribbon symbols from the regional government’s headquarters in Barcelona before the April 28 national election. The ribbons are how Catalan separatists show support for the movement’s leaders, who have been prosecuted for their role in a failed secession bid in 2017.

The board said the ribbons were “tools of political propaganda” that violated campaign laws.

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